Method and means for handling film cartridges

ABSTRACT

In a continuous process for inserting a scroll of interwound photographic film and backing paper into a film cartridge comprised of two cartridge halves, an assembled-but-unsealed cartridge is presented to a movable cartridge carrying fixture having manipulable clamping members for engaging the respective cartridge halves. The cartridge, while on the fixture, is incrementally advanced through a series of work stations as the cartridge halves are separated from each other, by means of the fixture, for scroll insertion purposes. By means of the fixture the cartridge halves are maintained in a fixed predetermined relationship to facilitate re-assembly following insertion of the scroll.

United States Patent [1 1 Butler et al. July 3, 1973 [54] METHOD N MEANSFOR'I-IANDLING 3,457,627 7/1969 Napor et al U 29 430 FILM CARTRIDGES[751 v lnventors: Ernest J. Butler, Rochester; John N. primary Examine,-Roben Spwi" Gad, Rush; R Attorney-William T. French, Robert F. Cody etal Rochester; James D. Mackay, Webster; Larry W. Weber,

Caledonia, all of NY. [73] Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company, [57]ABSTRACT Rochester, NY.

in a continuous process for inserting a scroll of inter- Filedl F b- 9wound photographic film and backing paper into a film cartridgecomprised of two cartridge halves, an assem- [211 Appl' N 222,831bled-but-unsealed cartridge is presented to a movable cartridgecarryingfixture having manipulable clamping i 1 Cl 29/200 members forengaging the respective cartridge halves. 53/381 A The cartridge, whileon the fixture, is incrementally ad- Clm B655 p B65b 43/00 vancedthrough a series of work stations as the. car- [58] Field of Search53/37, 266, 281, {ridge halves are separated from each other, by means53/381 A; /200 R, 2 200 200 of the fixture, for scroll insertionpurposes, By means I 429, 431 of the fixture the cartridge halves aremaintained in a fixed predetermined relationship to facilitate re- 6]References Cited assembly following insertion of the scroll.

. UNITED STATES PATENTS .5 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENIEU JUL 3 I975SHEEI 2 BF 2 METHOD AND MEANS FOR HANDLING FILM CARTRIDGES BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The subject invention relates toa method and apparatus for use in the loading of photographic filmstrip'into a film cartridge of the type having spaced filmstrip supply andtake-up chambers formed by two cartridge halves. More particularly, theinvention provides an improved method and means for presenting a filmcar'- tridge to a succession of work stations and for disassembling andmanipulating such cartridge so as to facil-.

' such components with a degree of precision which may notbe suitablefor all cartridges of the doublechambered type. For example, vacuumheads have been employed to remove a cartridge cover from a cartridgebody carried by an indexable nest and to subsequently replace the coverfollowing insertion of a film scroll into the body. Such an arrangementmay, because of the erratic motion associated with incremental advanceof the cartridge from station to station, result in misalignment of thecartridge components and cause malfunctioning of the apparatus duringreassembly of the cartridge Where the respective cartridge componentsare carried by separate fixtures, misalignment is apt to result alsofrom wearing of the mechanical linkage employed to separate and reunitethe cartridge halves. Furthermore,- the indexable nests heretoforeemployedto transport the cartridge embraced the end walls of thecartridge supply chamber. In the case of a double-chambered cartridgethat is so constructed as to permit removal of at least one of such end'walls for scroll insertion purposes, such prior art devices areincompatible with a more efficient method of scroll insertion-as willappear laterwhich such cartridges permit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It has been found that by engaging theseparable halves of a double-chambered film cartridge by respectivemanipulable members which form part of, and are locked to, a common,indexable cartridge carrier, the cartridge halves will be accuratelymaintained in predetermined spaced relationship with respect. to eachother, thereby to facilitate reassembly of the cartridge which occursafter film loading, and during the time that the cartridge movesalongthe cartridge assembly line. The invention works best withcartridges which are of the type having a double-L construction, (to bedescribed in greater detail below), one such L-member serving as thecover for the other and vice versa. By

cradling one L-member, while maintaining the other In accordance with apresently preferred embodiment of the invention, anassembled-but-unsealed double-chambered cartridge is fed to an indexablecartridge carrier fixture having separable clamping members, each ofwhich firmly clamps one of a pair of parallel side rails carried by,respectively, a cartridge body member (first L-member) and a cartridgecover member (second L-member). The clamping members are then separatedto remove the cartridge cover from the body member, thereby exposing theopen ends of the cartridge supply and takeup chambers. Duringadvancement of. the fixture to a loading station, the cartridge bodymember (and its clamping member) is elevated so that the supply chamberwill, at one point, be coaxially aligned with a preformed scroll ofinterwound filmstrip and backing paper to permit insertion of the scrollinto the chamber. At a subsequent station the cartridge body is, bymeans of the fixture, accurately reunited with the cartridge cover toproduce a loaded film cartridge which may then be further advanced bythe fixture to subsequent stations for sealing, labelling and likeoperations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 (A through E) depictsdiagrammatically a sequence of steps performed in the loading of a film.cartridge in accordance with the subject invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a cartridge-holding fixture for use in performing theoperations implicit in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the fixture of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 illustrates apparatus employing a plurality of the fixtures ofFIG. 2 for use in continuously performing the steps of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As seen in FIG. 1 (A through E), acartridge 10 is comprised of two halves; namely, a body 11 (first L-member) and a cover 13 (second L-member) which combine to form afilmstrip supply compartment 15 from which filmstrip may be advancedinto a takeup compartment 17 by means of a rotatable takeup core 19. Atone end of the body 11 is a generally cylindrical wall 21 defining amajor portion of the periphery of the supply compartment 15 and thecentral axis A thereof. A similar wall 23 at the opposite end of body 11forms a major portion of the periphery of the takeup compartment 17. Afirst side wall disposed generally perpendicular to the central axis ofthe compartment 15 and connected to walls 21 and 23 defines a firstsupply compartment end wall portion 25, a first takeup compartment endwall portion 27 and a first rail member 29 extending therebetween. A lip30 extends along the upper edge of the first side wall to provide, in anassembled cartridge, a light lock. The cover 13 includes a back wall 31which is curved at itsopposite ends so as to form the remaining portions'of the peripheral walls of the supply and takeup compartments.Connected to the back wall 31 is a second sidewall which is adapted (inan assembled cartridge) to oppose the first side wall and thereby definea second supply compartment end wall portion 35, a second takeupcompartment end wall portion 37, and a second rail member 39 disposedtherebetween. Upon assembly of a cartridge, the body 11 and cover 13combine to form interconnected supply and takeup compartmentsw-hich areenclosed except in the areas of ledges 41 and 43 where narrow filmstrippassageways are formed. 7

The takeup compartment 17 is adapted to receive a take-up core 19 whichis rotatably mounted on, but not positively secured to, a mountingspindle 20 (shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1A) carried by the firsttakeup compartment end wall 27. A core drive gear 22 connected to thecore end is received within a protruding gear cover 24 carried by theside wall 37.

Reference should now be had to FIG. 2: a fixture 45, of special design,supports and conveys the cartridge to various work stations. The fixture45 comprises, basically, a base plate 47 carrying first and secondclamping members 49 and 51 which are adapted to engage and manipulate,respectively, the cartridge body 11 and the cover 13. The first clampingmember 49 resides generally above the base plate 47 and is movablevertically by means of a follower rod 53 which cooperates with a camtrack 55. The second clamping member 51 generally opposes the member 49and is affixed to a horizontal guide rod 57 which is slidably mounted onbase 47. By means of a suitable mechanismsuch as, for example, anactuator 59 and control 61the guide rod 57 may be selectively advancedand returned to horizontally displace the member 51 with respect to themember 49.

The clamping member 51 includes a cradle plate'63 and a backup plate 65.Between these plates is sandwiched a movable clamping plate 67 which ismounted on a guide rod 71 slidably carried by plate 65. The clampingplate 67 includes a bevelled portion 83 adjacent its upper edge and ashoulder 81 that is so spaced from the upper edge as to support thereonthe lower edge of a cartridge rail 39 when the rail is clamped betweenthe plates 63 and 67. A compression spring 69 is employed to urge theplate 67 toward the plate 63 to produce the required rail clampingengagement. The elements and mode of operation of the clamping member 49are substantially similar to those of the member 51 as described; themember 49 being comprised of a cradle plate 63', a backup plate 65 and aclamping plate 67' and being operable to clamp the rail 29 of thecartridge body 11.

In operation, a series of fixtures 45 are conveyed incrementally in baseplate (47) abutting relationship along a linear slideway 73; (see FIG.3) to various work stations at which appropriate operations areperformed in a continuous sequence as depicted in FIGS. 1 and 4. At theupstream-most station, an empty fixture is positioned beneath a loadingchute 75 containing a series of preassembled core-containing cartridges10.

A single such cartridge is discharged onto the positioned fixture sothat the cartridge side rails 29 and 39 are in vertical alignment forclamping by, respectively, the clamping members 49 and 51. An indexingram 77 is then actuated by suitable means, such as control 78, toadvance the instant fixture (thus also advancing all downstreamfixtures) to a cartridge opening station depicted in FIG. 1A. En routeto the cartridge opening station suitable means, such as cam 79, forcesthe cartridge rails down into clamping engagement with the respectiveclamping members 49 and 51. Entrance of the rail members into suchengagement is facilitated by the wedging action provided by the bevelededges of the spring-loaded clamping plates 67 and 67.

Upon arrival at the above-mentioned cartridge opening station, theactuator 59 is operated to separate the clamping member 51 from themember 49, thereby separating the cover 13 from the body 11 by movementin a direction generally parallel to the central axis A of the supplychamber 15. During the initial phase of such separation, the core 19 isretained on the spindle 20 by the provision of a jet of air from anozzle 60 directed through an aperture 58 in the cover 24 and againstthe drive gear 22. After the cover 13 has cleared the body 11, suitablemeans such as a moveable plate (not shown) may be brought into contactwith the gear 22 to provide continued core support at least until thebacking paper leader is attached to the core.

During advancement of the fixture to the next succeeding station (SeeFIG. 1B) the cam track 55 raises the cartridge body 11 to an elevatedposition with respect to the cartridge cover 13. By so elevating thecartridge body, access is provided for insertion, at the next succeedingstation (see FIG. 1C), of a pre-formed scroll 79 of interwound backingpaper and film. The scroll 79 is wound about a cylindrical windingmandrel 81 which, in a preferred manner, is axially alignable with thecartridge supply compartment 15 so that, by means ofa scroll advance 83,the scroll may be inserted into the open end of the compartment 15. Uponsuch insertion the scroll may be permitted to clockspring into contactwith the curved wall 21 of the compartment 15, whereby the scroll isheld within such confines, thus facilitating the securing of the scrollend to the takeup core 19. In this regard, an air jet 85 directs a blastof air against the backing paper leader 87 to position the free endthereof against the core 19, whereupon such end may be heat sealed tothe core by means of a moveable heating head (not shown).

The loaded cartridge is then advanced to a reassembly station shown inFIG. 1D. During such advancement, the cartridge body 11 is lowered intoaxial alignment with the cover 13. And, as will be evident from theabove, it is the integral nature of the fixtureof the invention whichpermits both cartridge halves to be accurately locked into spacedrelationship with respect to each other, whereby their disassembly,loading, and reassembly may be facilitated. In this regard, anappropriate signal from the control 61 causes the actuator 59 to retractso as to urge the cover 13 toward the body 11.

As the cover 13 is repositioned it passes over the backing paper leader87-which now extends between the supply 15 and takeup 17compartments-and beneath the light lock lip 30 of the body 11.Concurrently, gear cover 24 is similarly accurately aligned to receivetherein the takeup drive gear 22.

Following such reassembly, the fixtures are advanced to additionalstations (not shown) where sealing, labelling, testing and operations oflike nature may be performed.

The invention has been described in detail with particular reference toa preferred embodiment thereof,

but it will be understood that variations and modificaseparating saidmember means by displacing said member means relative to each other in adirection generally parallel to said axis;

positioning said body member means at a scroll loading station, andrelatively moving said cover member means away from said axis to clearthe opening to said supply compartment;

inserting said wound scroll into said supply compartment; and greassembling said member means by realigning said cover member meansalong said axis and by then relatively moving said member means towardeach other along said axis.

2. Apparatus for use inloading a wound photographic element scroll intoa film cartridge of the type having body member means for defining amajor portion of a generally cylindrical supply compartment having acentral axis and cover member means for defining an end wall of'saidcompartment, said apparatus comprising:

a. a scroll loading station;

b. fixture means for engaging the respective member means of anassembled cartridge, and for relatively positioning said member meanswith respect to each other, said fixture means comprising; 1. means forseparating said member means including means for displacing one of saidmember means in a direction generally parallel to said axis and forrelatively moving said cover member means away from said axis to clearthe opening to said supply compartment; 2. means for positioning saidbody member means at said scroll loading station; and c. means at saidscroll loading station for inserting said scroll into said supplycompartment; and I d. means for reassembling said members includingmeans for moving one of said members in a direction generally parallelto said axis.

4. The invention of claim 3 wherein said cover mem- I ber means furtherdefines a takeup compartment end wall having an aperture alignable withsaid takeup core and said retaining means comprises means for directinga flow of fluid through said aperture and against said takeup core.

5. Apparatus for use in loading a wound photographic element scroll intoa film cartridge of the type comprising :body member means for defininga major portion of a generally cylindrical supply compartment having acentral axis and including a first supply compartment end wall and-covermember means for defining a second supply compartment and wall, saidapparatus comprising:

a scroll loading station; first clamping'means for engaging said firstend wall; second clamping means for engaging said second end wall;

means for separating said clamping means including means for displacingone of said clamping means in a direction generally parallel tosaidcentral axis and for relatively moving said one clamping means away fromsaid axis;

means cooperable with said clamping means for positioning said bodymember at said scroll loading station;

means at said scroll loading station for inserting said scroll into saidsupply compartment; and

means for reassembling said cartridge including means for moving one ofsaid clamping means in a direction generally parallel to said centralaxis.

1. The method of loading a wound photographic element scroll into a filmcartridge of the type having body member means for defining a majorportion of a generally cylindrical supply compartment having a centralaxis and cover member means for defining an end wall of saidcompartment, said method comprising the steps of: engaging therespective member means of an assembled cartridge; separating saidmember means by displacing said member means relative to each other in adirection generally parallel to said axis; positioning said body membermeans at a scroll loading station, and relatively moving said covermember means away from said axis to clear the opening to said supplycompartment; inserting said wound scroll into said supply compartment;and reassembling said member means by realigning said cover member meansalong said axis and by then relatively moving said member means towardeach other along said axis.
 2. Apparatus for use in loading a woundphotographic element scroll into a film cartridge of the type havingbody member means for defining a major portion of a generallycylindrical supply compartment having a central axis and cover membermeans for defining an end wall of said compartment, said apparatuscomprising: a. a scroll loading station; b. fixture means for engagingthe respective member means of an assembled cartridge, and forrelatively positioning said member means with respect to each other,said fixture means comprising;
 2. means for positioning said body membermeans at said scroll loading station; and c. means at said scrollloading station for inserting said scroll into said supply compartment;and d. means for reassembling said members including means for movingone of said members in a direction generally parallel to said axis. 3.The invention of claim 2 wherein said body member means further definesa takeup compartment for housing a movable takeup core and saidapparatus includes means for retaining said core in said takeupcompartment during said separating of said member means.
 4. Theinvention of claim 3 wherein said cover member means further defines atakeup compartment end wall having an aperture alignable with saidtakeup core and said retaining means comprises means for directing aflow of fluid through said aperture and against said takeup core. 5.Apparatus for use in loading a wound photographic element scroll into afilm cartridge of the type comprising body member means for defining amajor portion of a generally cylindrical supply compartment having acentral axis and including a first supply compartment end wall and covermember means for defining a second supply compartment end wall, saidapparatus comprising: a scroll loading station; first clamping means forengaging said first end wall; second clamping means for engaging saidsecond end wall; means for separating said clamping means includingmeans for displacing one of said clamping means in a direction generallyparallel to said central axis and for relatively moving said oneclamping means away from said axis; means cooperable with said clampingmeans for positioning said body member at said scroll loading station;means at said scroll loading station for inserting said scroll into saidsupply compartment; and means for reassembling said cartridge includingmeans for moving one of said clamping means in a direction generallyparallel to said central axis.